Nicholas Boyd
Associate
Nicholas Boyd
+1.404.817.8413
Overview
Nick Boyd is a trial and appellate attorney who represents corporations, financial services companies and state agencies throughout the country in complex and high-stakes civil litigation matters. Mr. Boyd's practice includes arguing and defending rulings on the merits and collateral issues such as attorney fees and prejudgment interest, and successfully obtaining or opposing interlocutory review of key rulings, including discovery sanctions.
Mr. Boyd has experience assisting clients in a broad variety of industries, including the energy, sports, information technology, healthcare, toy and game, construction, manufacturing, agriculture and insurance sectors. Mr. Boyd's wide range of experience includes litigating intellectual property, antitrust, contract, product liability and consumer protection disputes.
In addition, Mr. Boyd litigates high-stakes insurance disputes on behalf of insurers, policyholders and other industry actors, and advises clients on complex coverage and claims questions. His practice includes counseling representations and warranties insurers with regard to high-dollar-value claims against their policies. He is based in Holland & Knight's Atlanta office.
Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Mr. Boyd served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable R. Lanier Anderson III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. During law school, Mr. Boyd was an editor and the book reviews chair of the Harvard Law Review.
Representative Experience
- Obtained dismissal of arbitration and award of attorneys' fees on behalf of a closely held business on shareholder's claims of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract claims
- Achieved a favorable settlement for a privately held defense contractor defending against claims for breach of contract, fraud and other forms of equitable relief by a shareholder and former contracting partner
- Forced dismissal of suit against Georgia's largest hospital system that sought to subject the system to asymmetric and anticompetitive disclosure regulation
- Successfully obtained rare Georgia state court dismissal of all contractor's claims arising out of renovation project, leading to favorable settlement
- Represented a general contractor in arbitration against a project owner resulting in a successful multimillion-dollar recovery of all money owed under contract
- Obtained a summary judgment for a state department of education against a constitutional challenge to legislation directing approximately $100 million per year to public charter schools
- Successfully achieved dismissal of restauranteurs' claims that they were entitled to coverage for losses resulting from temporary closure during the COVID-19 pandemic, under their commercial general liability policies
- Defended a national nonprofit organization against a retailer's defamation claims arising from the organization's investigation, leading to settlement
- Represented an agricultural producer in a nationwide antitrust class action litigation involving allegations of price-fixing and supply restrictions
- Represented an independent school in defending against dispute with a contractor, leading to settlement
- Represented a national nonprofit organization in a personal injury and product liability action, resulting in a favorable settlement
- Won a summary judgment for a food products company in a contractual dispute with an equipment manufacturer after forcing voluntary dismissal of the manufacturer's suit filed in another state
- Achieved a favorable settlement for an employer that brought fraud claims against a former employee arising from the employee's nonperformance of work duties during the pandemic and the employee's acceptance of multiple incompatible positions with other firms
- Obtained dismissal of suit brought by a guest at a national hospitality company alleging that a client was a trustee of trust-benefiting guest
- Obtained a favorable settlement on behalf of a pro bono client whose landlord wrongfully withheld her deposit and other funds after the cancellation of her lease
- Represented a utility provider in a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) lawsuit resulting in a favorable settlement
- Obtained a favorable settlement for an auto insurer facing a third-party bad faith claim for a fraction of the insurer's potential exposure
- Represented independent school in defending against dispute with contractor, leading to settlement
- Successfully defended dismissal with prejudice of Title IX claims brought by former student against private university
- Part of team that successfully appealed a $10 million jury verdict against a seafood producer on trade secret and other intellectual property claims before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, resulting in reversal and remand
- Successfully appealed a $15 million judgment against an engineering, design and manufacturing company before the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division
- Successfully defended a summary judgment in favor of state department of education on a constitutional challenge to funding legislation directing approximately $100 million per year to public charter schools and obtained a favorable decision limiting the ability of plaintiffs to bring similar suits against our client in the future
- Obtained an interlocutory (mid-case) review and reversal by the Georgia Court of Appeals of a case-dispositive discovery sanction that would have prevented the client from contesting its liability in a multimillion-dollar dispute; our intervention led to a favorable settlement
- Successfully defended award of summary judgment to a toy and game manufacturer on various intellectual property claims before U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- Successfully defended dismissal with prejudice of Title IX claims brought by a former student against a private university
- Obtained an appellate ruling reversing the trial court and rejecting the premises liability claim as a matter of law because, as the Court of Appeals concluded, there was no evidence of foreseeable criminal conduct
- Obtained a reversal of both grant of summary judgment to insurer and denial of summary judgment to general contractor in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in a coverage dispute arising from the subcontractor's improper installation of a parking lot
- Successfully defended, in the Georgia Court of Appeals, a favorable judgment for a metropolitan transit authority in a suit that attacked the authority's constitutional validity and revenue-raising powers
- Successfully opposed interlocutory review of Georgia state court order dismissing plaintiff's entire complaint with prejudice, allowing litigation of client's counterclaims to go forward prior to appeal and forcing favorable settlement
- Obtained dismissal of defendant's appeal from favorable judgment for our client in a quiet title action
- Advised a developer with regard to modifications to a billion-dollar contract with a municipality and a development agency; the parties need to modify their contracts at short notice to address an unforeseen eventuality; advised client of the optimal strategy to preserve its rights to enforce a $600 million revenue stream through litigation
- Advised an energy holding company regarding its potential multimillion-dollar exposure related to the shutdown of a major public facility; advice supported the client in pursuing a negotiated resolution with other stakeholders
- Advised a public authority regarding potential impact of legislative proposals on status of bonds worth more than $1 billion
- Successfully represented a national client in redeeming commercial real estate that had been subject to forfeiture under Georgia law while minimizing cost and risk of further loss
- Advised an insurer on complex coverage and jurisdictional issues arising out of an incident on cruise ship
Credentials
Education
- Harvard Law School, J.D., magna cum laude
- University of Edinburgh, M.Sc., Literature
- University of Nottingham, B.A., English, first class honors
Bar Admissions/Licenses
- Georgia
Court Admissions
- Supreme Court of Georgia
- Court of Appeals of Georgia
- All Superior Courts in Georgia
- All State Courts in Georgia
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
- U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia
Memberships
- State Bar of Georgia
- Federal Bar Association
- American Bar Association
- Atlanta Bar Association
Honors & Awards
- The Best Lawyers in America guide, Atlanta Commercial Litigation Ones to Watch, 2023-2025
- Dean's Scholar Prizes (top 1-2 in class), Harvard Law School: Federal Courts, 2016; Taxation, 2015; Administrative Law, 2014; Criminal Law, 2014; Public International Law, 2014; Civil Procedure, 2013
- School of English Prize (top GPA), University of Nottingham, 2006